Take Me Anywhere
by butterfly-scrub-cap
Summary: One shot. A/U where the car crash never took place, meaning Sofia is already born but Arizona has not yet proposed to Callie. She proposes to her, but this time there isn't a truck that comes out of nowhere.


_**Prompt: **__A/U where the car crash never happened, Arizona proposes to Callie._

_**Submitter: **__hercoffeehouse_

_**Title From: **__'Take Me Anywhere' - Tegan & Sara_

**_Author's Note:_**_ I wrote this one a little differently to my others, but hopefully you'll see why as you read it._

It hit her suddenly, the realization. She was leaning in the doorframe watching Callie put Sofia to bed when it hit her. This was the woman she wanted to spend the rest of her life with_. _Arizona made her mind up there and then to propose to Calliope.

Arizona held on to that thought for a few days, trying to find the perfect way to ask the question. Callie was a full blown romantic, and Arizona, perfectionist in everything, wanted to set up the perfect proposal. But romance wasn't Arizona's forte, she was more perky and childish than Callie. An idea started to form in her mind, a complicated idea but if it turned out right, Arizona knew it would be awesome.

Knowing she'd need help getting everything ready, Arizona paged Mark and Lexie to the nearest on call room. The couple walked in giggling like teenagers, stopping once they saw Arizona's seriousness. "I have a plan and you two need to help out." Arizona made them swear to keep this a secret, and then told them all about her plan. Thirty minutes later, the trio were making their way around the hospital, enlisting the help of everyone. Luckily for them, the hospital staff loved Callie, and were all too happy to help once the plan had been explained to them.

Days later, the plan had been prepped, and Arizona was pacing up and down the hallway behind the nurses station nervously. As a hand tapped her shoulder, she jumped slightly, turning to face her wife. "Oh, Calliope! Hi! Uhm, I have…I have a surgery. Now. See you later!" Arizona skittered off down the hallway before Callie had a chance to react. Once she turned the corner, Arizona stopped running, and strained her ears for the first part of her plan.

"Torres! How about you and blondie come get drinks with me and Lexie at Joe's?"

"Mark that's really sweet, but I'll just take Sofia home and wait up for Arizona. I think something's up with her, she just blew me off."

Hearing Callie's response, Arizona screwed her eyes shut, praying that Mark would be able to work his magic.

"Nonsense Torres, that girl loves you. You're a surgeon you know how it goes with emergency surgeries. Now, you're going to come get drinks with us."

Arizona couldn't help but peek around the corner, sighing in relief when she saw Callie's back was turned to her.

"Mark…what about Sofia?"

Arizona almost burst out laughing as she saw Cristina speed up her walk to reach Callie and take Sofia out of her arms. Cristina had really warmed up to Sofia lately, and was a great godmother; she'd volunteered to take care of her goddaughter for the evening. Yet Arizona found it comical to watch the woman who had once scared half her peds ward, be cooing over her daughter.

"I'll take her! I'm going to teach her a running whip stitch. She'll be the best intern this hospital's ever seen."

Arizona grinned as she watch Callie accept the offers, and head off to Joe's with Mark and Lexie. Walking off to the her office, she had the biggest smile on her face; and butterflies in her stomach for what was going to happen.

They had planned it so that Lexie would pretend to be sick, so that Callie would follow her into the bathroom to see if she was okay. Here, Lexie would give up the sick-act and give Callie the first of the clues that Arizona had written neatly onto pink index cards. It read _"This is the spot I first kissed you. Do you remember where I was standing for the first 'I love you'?_" The clue was easy, but they were designed to get harder as the hunt went on.

She would have loved to watch Callie's reaction to the clue card, but Arizona contented herself with reading Lexie's detailed description in a text, as she waited in her office until it was time to leave.

Mark and Lexie went to the apartment with Callie, only handing her the second clue once she was stood in the exact spot Arizona had described to them_. "In the scariest moment of my life, you protected me. And still managed to flirt with me about super magic smiles." _Judging by Mark's text to her after he had given Callie the second clue, Callie was loving the game and had on a super magic smile of her own.

Arizona walked down to the Peds ward, where Callie was heading, and hid behind the counter where she could watch the next part of her plan unfold. As Callie appeared, Arizona's breath caught in her throat. It wasn't like her to be nervous, but there was so much that could go wrong with her plan. She'd tried blocking out the negative thoughts since she woke that morning, but seeing the joy in Callie's face at running around Seattle chasing her clues, Arizona's fears settled.

Nurse Kate stepped out from behind the nurses' counter with the next pink index card. _"Although at the time I felt like I'd been punched when I heard you say the words, the result is something I love more than I ever thought I could love anything."_ She bit her lip as she watched Callie's face scrunch up deep in thought. When Calliope's face lit up in realization, Arizona let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. A giggle escaped her lips as she watched her girlfriend run towards the elevator, where Callie had told her about being pregnant with Mark's child.

Arizona walked slowly towards that same elevator, making sure to stay hidden, but still wanting to watch this happen. As the elevator doors opened, Meredith stood inside them, holding a pink card up to Callie. _"Both our hearts skipped when we saw hers for the first time." _Callie's smile spread wider than ever, as she started towards the OB/Gyn exam room where they had seen Sofia's heart beat for the first time. Arizona wanted nothing more than to join the crowd that had joined Callie in the Arizona-hunt, but instead she walked outside while she waited for Callie to be given the last clue. _"You promised me you'd never leave." _Arizona thought Callie would know where to go straight away. If the sight of Callie running full speed towards her was anything to go by, Arizona had been right.

As Calliope stopped in front of her, Arizona held out her empty hands, showing she didn't have a pink card, and grabbed Callie's hands in hers.

"I'm not a full blown romantic, just like you aren't a Heeley-wearing perky girl."

Arizona's confidence grew as Callie, and the audience behind her, giggled lightly.

"But you've been running around all night on a hunt tonight, so now it's my turn to try and be romantic. My dream, didn't look like this. But if I'd had my dream, I wouldn't have been half as happy as I am right now. I love you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Calliope Iphegenia Torres, will you marry me?"

Arizona held her breath and glued her eyes onto Callie's waiting for a reaction. She felt her hands being squeezed gently as Callie's smile got wider than it already was, something Arizona had thought impossible.

"Yes, yes, I'll marry you. Yes!"

As Callie pulled Arizona in for a kiss, the crowd behind them exploded into a cheer.

Moments later, they were surrounded with hugs and congratulations. The hospital staff had seen them go through a lot – the first break up, Africa, the pregnancy – but the fact that Callie and Arizona were always able to pull through, made them the aspirational couple of Seattle Grace – Mercy West.

Each of the surgeons left one by one, Cristina last after cooing over Sofia one last time before handing her back over to Callie. Only Callie, Mark, Lexie and Arizona were left.

Lexie winked at Arizona before looking over at Callie, and carrying out the very last stage of the plan. "Why don't Mark and I take Sofia tonight? You two should go celebrate."

Arizona laughed at the smirk Mark had once Lexie mentioned celebrating, and her laughter only grew harder as Lexie swatted his arm gently with her hand and told him to behave.

Callie thanked them profusely before releasing Sofia to her Aunt Lexie. As they watched the three of them walk off towards the car, Callie grabbed Arizona's hand, pulling her towards their own car. "So, shall we celebrate?" she asked, raising her eyebrow.

Arizona's face grew serious as she stopped walking, and turned Callie to face her. "Actually, there's one more thing, I didn't want to do this in front of everyone." She led her girlfriend, no, fiancée, to the nearby bench, and gently guided her to sit down. Pulling a jewelry box from her pocket, tears pricked Arizona's eyes. "This, this was my great-grandmother's ring. It was the ring my father had given Timothy for when he met 'the one'. But after Tim died, my dad gave it to me for when I found 'the one' instead. I want you to have it." Arizona swallowed nervously as she searched Callie's eyes for a reaction. "I mean, if you don't like it, I under-"

Callie interrupted her with a sweet, passionate kiss. "I love it, it's beautiful."

"You do?"

"I do."

Her heart soared as she slipped the ring onto Callie's finger, kissing her again.

"I love you."


End file.
